U18 Girls begin prep for England 2013
- Jan 08,2013
The Tour has started!!!
Article written by Keith Wilkinson
On Saturday 5th January 2013, twenty-one players, the tour manager (Jill) and three coaches (Mike, Joanne and Keith) made the trip to the bizarrely, but probably aptly named Wildwater Kingdom, to begin preparations.
The three coaches introduced themselves, and we all started to learn names as Jill put the group through The Eleven Plus. This is part of a fitness program for women designed to lower rates of injury. Then came a few icebreakers with group situps and lap sits, before we started the running games.
The aim of these first two practices was to introduce ourselves, start team building, and make an assessment of running and passing skills. We started with some touch games – first came touch tag to show you how adept and fit, the coaches are (no comment); then came 2 second touch, ruck touch, and kick over/counter. Good news. We have what appears to be a cohesive and interesting group of young women, and we have a good blend of athleticism, speed and physicality.
During a rest period from the running, players were introduced to the basics of Rugby Canada’s lateral pass and we spent a good period of time struggling with some aspects of this (as the photos will show). There is plenty for players to work on before practices begin.
The practice finished with lineout lifting and jumping to start us thinking about restarts in the game. We challenged you to move the ball 15 metres through seven sets of jumpers/lifters. Brilliant. You did it on the fourth attempt! This was a good first practice
On Sunday 6th January 2013, twenty-two players made the second practice at the Mississauga CanLan centre, and Duncan (fresh from a relaxing time in Mexico), joined the coaching team. A quick word of thanks to all the families who billeted our out-of-town players and had them ready to go at 11:00 am..
The Sunday practice was designed to continue team-building and assess the physical and contact skills of the squad. Needless to say, decision-making is a feature of every practice. You are the players on the field and you must make the decisions (when we ask questions we hope that you can explain your reason for making a particular decision. Rugby is a thinking game.
Practice started with Jill’s warm –up, then a series of team building games: Face off, butt off, apache leg wrestling, triangle tag. We reviewed lateral passing with 5 players at a time moving the ball across a line of coaches with pads.
Mike took us through a series of tackling progressions designed to ensure that we pressure the ball carrier and win the battle of the gain line. There are many safety issues here, so we need to ensure the correct shoulder is used, the head is cheek to cheek, the arms are punched then locked, and we drive off the correct foot. This squad has the potential to be a devastating tackling side which will intimidate the English, so we need to keep working on these skills at every practice.
After an hour’s work, we took a break for an hour, before resuming.
First came the paper work and a line by line discussion of the code of conduct and what we need your parents to discuss and sign. We need a bio (and signature) of you to go with the head and shoulder photos that Jill took. Please try to remember to bring all these forms along to the next practice session. There was a preliminary discussion of what to wear and how to pack – more information on this later.
Tactically, we did a flip chart session on defence at the ruck. If you cannot remember what RAIL (Rock, Assist, Inside, Lead) is about, and what the various responsibilities are, then be sure to ask next time.
The afternoon session began with helium sticks (someone asked me if I really had injected them?!?) We seemed to be abject failures at this exercise, so I will bring them along in the future for another try. Then we used three cones to simulate rucks and we ran a defensive RAIL against a group of attacking players. By the end of the sessions, this started to come together.
An extra session of tackling followed, then a series of new touch games – double touch, pop-up/wide to check decision making. Two final activities and a session from Jill wrapped up a very long four hour practice. As you probably heard Mike say, the next practices will be 3 hours long and the middle hour will be for a working lunch. Come prepared. On this note, we would once again advise you to leave all jewelry at home; it is very easy to misplace small valuable items.
In future practice sessions, we will revise, review and practice all that we have learned so far. But, we will also have to look at BBP and the scrum; attack and defence at the set scrum – back row and backs); Kick-offs – our own and reception; wide attack integrating forwards from a ruck; going with the flow; 25m drop outs; goal kicking; terror tactics; lineout options in attack defence. In other word, we still have plenty to do….
The coaches are always available to you if you have Rugby or tour questions; you can write to us to be forward at: 2kwilkinson@sympatico.ca. All the coaching staff share a similar philosophy: We want you to have fun and learn more about the Game; we shall try to win every match we play, but the team’s performance is more important than the victory; players may have to play in unfamiliar positions, but this will allow them to develop their game; we do not condone referee abuse as the officials are an important part of the Game; players must make the decisions on the field and coaches will not be yelling instructions at you.
Looking forward to seeing you again soon
Jill: Manager
Duncan, Joanne, Keith and Mike: Coaches